Abstract

GARNICA PENA, Ricardo Javier  and  ALCANTARA AYALA, Irasema. Flood risk assessment associated to extraordinary precipitation events in the lower Tecolutla River, Veracruz. Invest. Geog [online]. 2004, n.55, pp.23-45. ISSN 2448-7279.

Human settlements located in the vicinity of the Tecolutla River have been affected by flooding since historic times. Recently, the degree of susceptibility to floods was expressed by the disastrous consequences produced by an extreme precipitation event in October 1999, when associated economic losses reached 2.7 millions of pesos. Potential flooding hazards, combined with high levels of vulnerability of some communities, determine the level of risk to which circa 30% of the municipality population is exposed to. Based on morphological, statistical and remote sensing approaches, areas susceptible to flooding were established for the lower course of Tecolutla River, along with an analysis of the communities vulnerability in order to understand risk.

Keywords : Susceptibility; flooding; vulnerability; risk; Tecolutla.